sxsw | shadow shadow shade

sxsw | shadow shadow shade

Formerly known as Afternoons, L.A. band Shadow Shadow Shade is my first of hopefully many music discoveries at SXSW 2010 this year. The seven piece group changed their name last year to distinguish themselves from a Welsh act with the same name and the band — in the wake of popular shows in Los Angeles — are at SXSW hoping to score a distribution deal.

Shadow Shadow Shade (pictured below) headlined IFC’s annual Crossroads party on Tuesday, this year held at the network’s house on Brazos & 7th St. in downtown Austin. They blew a lot of us away and while I only caught a few of their songs, I’m already anxious to hear more. Two drummers, a tambourine, and a distinctive mix of vocals and musical instruments drive what the LA Times described as a, “swooning, layered sound (which seems somehow simultaneously informed by Pink Floyd and the Mamas & the Papas).”

After tonight’s IFC gig, I casually caught up with band member Claire McKeown (pictured, right), an opera singer. She said that if they don’t secure a deal to release their album, they’ll just find a way to do it themselves.

“We don’t really think of the major labels as something we need or need to pursue at this point,” the band’s Brent Turner told the LA Times last year. “Everything these days is in flux, and you find your audience in different ways.”